MORE than 250 people were waiting for bowel cancer tests in Bradford earlier this year, new figures have revealed.

The NHS standard is only one per cent of patients waiting more than six weeks for such tests, but in June statistics showed the city exceeded that rate. In all, there were 34 hospitals across the North of England and the Yorkshire & Humber region that were breaching the government’s waiting time target of six weeks for tests that could diagnose bowel cancer.

The two key tests to diagnose the disease are colonoscopy and flexible sigmoidoscopy – a camera on a thin, flexible cable inserted through the anus to look at different parts of the bowel. Those tests are known as endoscopy procedures.

The figures for June showed there were 86 people on Bradford’s waiting list for flexible sigmoidoscopy and 5.8 per cent of them had been waiting longer than six weeks. There were 191 waiting for colonoscopy appointments with 2.6 per cent waiting six-plus weeks.

The waiting times were published by NHS England. They show demand for diagnostic tests is outstripping capacity, according to charity Bowel Cancer UK which says hospitals are at breaking point because they do not have the capacity to meet the growing demand.

A spokesperson for Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said: “Patients are referred for colonoscopy on a number of different pathways. If a patient sees their GP and there is any suspicion of cancer they are referred to us under the two week rule Fast Track pathway. The Trust has a consistently high performance in meeting the two week rule for lower gastro-intestinal referrals.

“The 1 per cent target relates to routine referrals. These are defined as referrals where there is no suspicion of cancer. Colonoscopies are also used to diagnose a number of other conditions.  For colonoscopies in June 2017, we exceeded this target by 5 patients.

 “There are lots of reasons why patients might not be able to attend their colonoscopy appointments within target and this is frequently due to patient choice, holidays, work commitments and so on. Unfortunately in the region of 15per cent of patients do not attend their endoscopy appointments on the day.  However since the opening of our new Endoscopy Unit in October 2016 we have increased the number of our endoscopy rooms from 3 to 5 and have seen a significant reduction in waiting times for all patients undergoing endoscopy procedures. We see over 4,000 patients a year."

During a recent visit by the Joint Advisory Group (JAG) of the Royal College of Physicians to assess the Trust's Endoscopy Unit, it was congratulated on managing to maintain waiting times for patients within national targets at a time when many units around the country are struggling to do so.

The latest NHS Digital figures showed the three hospitals with some of the highest percentage of patients waiting more than six weeks for colonoscopy appointments were the Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospitals NHS Trust at 54 per cent, Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust at 25 per cent and East Cheshire NHS Trust at 22 per cent.

The three hospitals with some of the highest percentage of patients waiting more than six weeks for flexible sigmoidoscopy appointments were Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospitals NHS Trust at 49 per cent, North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust at 24 per cent and Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust at 21 per cent.

Bowel cancer is the second biggest cancer killer but it should not be because it is treatable and curable, especially if diagnosed early.

Asha Kaur, of Bowel Cancer UK, said: “These waiting time figures present a worrying picture and demonstrate the urgent need for the Government to make addressing this crisis a national priority. If hospitals are expected to meet waiting time targets, then they must be given the resources and capacity.”